I actually gave it the old "start from full charged and see how long it goes" test last night.

Started it at approx 10.30 pm last night. All flac files on random into an HD600 at low to moderate volume. It quit at just before 10am this morning - so approx 11.5 hours. That's pretty good. Nowhere near the Studio - but OK for a long haul flight.

BTW - charge from a wall-wart (from empty to full) was pretty much 4 hours.

Idea for Fiio for an add on sale. A perfectly size matched add on battery recharging unit (rechargeable). So that way if you are running low - just throw the battery pack in place and recharge the X5. Food for thought anyway.

Charge from a wall-wart (from empty to full) was pretty much 4 hours? What is the output rating of the charger? 1A or 2A? I believe Fiio recommend a 2A charger, which imply X5 support high-current quick charging, and 4 hours seems to be a bit longer then expected.

I just don't get the DSD love in this instance. It's converting to PCM on the fly before decoding. Yes, even with the s mod DSD capable DAC chip. FW and stream paths haven't changed. It can't be better than PCM in this config, just a 'sound' that you happen to like, which is of course is also fine.

Indeed, I am curious as well, I believe both AK120 and X5 are DOP (DSD on PCM) decoding, right?

I must admit I had not thought of Classical music, however this debate detracts
from what must be the most important aspects of a DAP, being

1) Sound Quality
2) Build and Reliability
3) User Interface

for me at least, battery life,on board memory, size, look, style, gapless, and rockbox or not
are way below the above three.

For many of us gapless is more important than all three. Without it, classical, live recordings, concept albums, etc. are intolerable.

Problems with gapless are all the more frustrating for us when you consider that:

1) FLAC is a gapless format, so one would expect it to work without issue. It is not a "feature," but the way the music was recorded and mastered.
2) Too many manufacturers are advertising their DAPs as "supports gapless," when in fact it does not function.

I'm sure FiiO will get it working as they did with the X3, but putting players into the marketplace with non-operating functions is not something most would forgive if we were discussing a Sony or Apple product.

Even if gapless is that important to fix the 3 points above is almost an impossible endeavor but fixing gapless is somewhat easier. I would pass if I can't get decent SQ, reliability and UI without any hesitations. Of all three reliability is the most difficult one if not impossible to fix and I seriously doubt you have a lot of bandwidth fixing SQ.

Charge from a wall-wart (from empty to full) was pretty much 4 hours? What is the output rating of the charger? 1A or 2A? I believe Fiio recommend a 2A charger, which imply X5 support high-current quick charging, and 4 hours seems to be a bit longer then expected.

Hi Andy

The wall-wart I have is 5V===1a. Unfortunately don't have a 2a charger.

From Fiio's website:

Quote:

When charging with PC USB, current shouldn’t be more than 500mA. When charging with 2A USB, current shouldn’t be more than 1400mA, Charging time about 4hrs. (Highest charging current is about 750mA, Charging time is about 5hrs for the first charge.)

So I guess my time was pretty consistent with what Fiio was expecting.